Week 1 in Donetsk

My Home Sweet Home for 4 weeks

My Room:)

The Building that I am staying in.

Our walk way to school.

This is where we teach:)

So I finally arrived in Donetsk Friday, June 29th. Our flight was delayed an hour and half. We got in around 11ish in the morning. Margaret was there waiting for us with a sign saying Teach Overseas. We were excited to finally be in our destination. We get in the car and we thought we would be going to our home for the month. Nope, we stopped at the grocery store to do our shopping for the first week. We were so tired and overwhelmed. The store is like a wal-mart. It was huge. There was so much going on everywhere. The store was packed. There are a lot of similarities to the stores in the states and a lot of differences as well. There is a whole isle just for sausages. There is a separate counter for cheese. The frozen fruit and vegetables are not in bags. You put what you want in a bag. The fresh fruit you bag and weigh it yourself. Lastly, you have to pay for all of your plastic bags and bag it yourself. Anyways, we finally got to our dorms. The dorms are pretty nice. We have a two bedroom door with two beds in each bedroom. Then the four of us share a bathroom. There is a common kitchen area for each floor. It is not bad. I took a 3 hour nap. We made rice and beans for dinner and then went to bed.

This is the school where I am teaching and staying at.

Nothing says good morning like the sun up at 4 am. I could not go back to sleep so I laid around for a while. We had orientation at 10 am. I found out that I will not be teaching in the mornings for Module 1 which is two weeks. I am helping out with games in the afternoon. I was very excited about that. After our Orientation, we got to go to the city for a couple of hours. I met the Ukrainian women who I will be working with this summer for the afternoon program. Her name is Katya and she is my age. So I was so happy to meet her. She is super nice. We rode the trolley and a bus to get there. Ukrainians do A LOT of walking. We went to Lenin Square. It is beautiful. We walked around a park that had paintings for sale. We had a really good time. Then we got dessert at the restaurant that if you translate it into English means duck-swan. But apparently it is based off of a play in the Ukraine. Once we got home we were tired so we went to bed.

Lenon Square

This is called Goose-Swan when translated. We had desert there. It was really good.

Sunday we went to church at an African Church. It did not start till 12:30 which was great because we got to sleep in and relax. The church was in English. Everyone was very friendly. After church we went to another grocery store. This time we had a list and we shopped by ourselves. You know pictures are a wonderful thing when you have no idea what the package says. After we got back, Denaya and I met with Katya to organize our first day. My team also played phase 10. It was a great day.


This is my schedule during the week:
8:00 Team Devotions
9:30 Afternoon Group Meeting
10:00-11:00 Hanging out in the Cafe to meet with students on their break
11:00-1:00 Free Time
1:00-2:00 Lunch
2:00-4:00 Afternoon Activities
4:00-5:30 One on One Conversational English
5:30-7:00 Dinner
7:00 Evening Activities (On Some nights)
10:00 Bed


On Monday, one of the morning teachers asked if I would sit in their class to be interviewed by the students so they could practice their English. It was fun. No one wanted to sit with us at break. All the students were still nervous. Lunch was really good. The afternoon activities were okay. I did not like it and I think I was just not comfortable. I love love the One on One conversations. You meet with someone for 15 minutes to talk. It is a great way to get to know the students. Our evening activity, we played volleyball. It was a lot of fun. About 6 students came. My arms were killing me the next day.


Tuesday was about the same. I had a rough day. I just don't feel like I belong here. I really struggled on Tuesday. I kept asking God why????? I did love the One on One. I really enjoy this time. Our evening activity, we watched a movie. It was Simon Birch. I had never heard of it or seen it and it was great. It was funny and sad. I think you should watch it. Again we had about 6 students show up.


Wednesday was a lot better. God is so good. The students really enjoyed the afternoon activities. Again, I love the one on one conversations. I feel I am beginning to build relationships. No evening activities. I was out around 8:30. 


Thursday, was a hard day. In the morning, Denaya and I went to an orphanage. A family that is here is from Australia and part of their mission work is working with some of the orphanages around Donetsk. This one we went to was very nice. The director spends a lot of time getting sponsors and helping to kids have a decent life. But hearing the stories that these babies come from is heart wrenching. I want to do more than just bring a couple of things of diapers but I do not know what. It was hard. The afternoon went great again. I feel like I am getting into a groove. One on One was great. We had dinner then went to Margaret's house and her husband fed us dessert. We had banana pudding and carrot cake. Both were delicious. Now I am in bed typing this up.

Denaya and I with some of the orphans. They were so sweet and cute.

Overall, I am having a great time. I do ask for some prayers. Prayers for obedience in talking about my faith when needed. Confidence to start my own bible study with the students. Confidence that I am here for a purpose and only rely on God for that purpose not my own understanding. Also for God's will in my life. I am wanting to know what is next. Also for my team and our health and unity. Pray for the hearts of these students. Pray for the orphanages. I will be visiting another one next week.


On Friday, I am filling in for one of the morning teachers. It is one of the beginners classes, so they will know very little English. She said that she knows I will do a good job. Also, Friday night the students will take us out and show us the city. On Saturday, we are going to a Montessori school that has a lot of history. So the next couple of days will be very busy.


I miss you all and Love you!!!!